My son and his girlfriend bought a house in joint names. When she left him he had trouble paying the mortgage and I ploughed £7,000 into the house. But when we tried to sell it seven years later the girlfriend reappeared demanding half the proceeds. Am I entitled to anything?
Generally a joint owner can expect a half share when a property comes to be sold. A court may agree with you that the girlfriend should receive less, but it would be expensive to establish exactly what she is entitled to. Unfortunately the court would be likely to conclude that the money you put into the house was a gift to your son, and (unless you have evidence to the contrary) didn’t give you a stake in the property. You would probably be throwing good money after bad if you pursued this.